President dumps Iowa visit then undermines its clean-energy future

The president bailed out of plans for a rally in Cedar Rapids on Thursday, citing only an unspecified scheduling change.

Come to find out, he was hosting a different party to which Iowa was pointedly not invited. Trump, with great fanfare, announced Thursday in a televised Rose Garden address that the United States would withdraw from the Paris climate accord. Iowa, which is positioned to be a national and perhaps international leader in clean energy, loses. Bigly.

Trump worked overtime Thursday to persuade Americans and the world that cutting carbon emissions equals a catastrophic loss of jobs.

President Trump speaking about the U.S. role in the Paris climate deal in the Rose Garden of the White House on June 1, 2017.(Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP)

“The Paris climate accord is simply the latest example of Washington entering into an agreement that disadvantages the United States, to the exclusive benefit of other countries, leaving American workers, who I love, and taxpayers to absorb the cost in terms of lost jobs, lower wages, shuttered factories and vastly diminished economic production,” Trump said.

In Iowa, however, Republican leaders have been busy promoting renewable energy as an important part of the state’s economic future. Just over two months ago, the governor and lieutenant governor were touting the job creation and economic potential of Iowa’s wind industry.

“Companies like Facebook, Google and Microsoft and many other have expressed how critical renewable energy has been to their decision to locate here in Iowa,” Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, who has since taken over as governor, said at the time.

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AP White House Correspondent Jill Colvin says the decision to pull out of the Paris Agreement is a signficant one that has angered U.S. allies. (June 2)
AP

Some of these major national companies, by the way, urged the president to stick with the Paris accord.

Iowa has created a new energy plan that combines recommendations for research and development of clean energy technology, increasing the use and production of renewable energy, developing and enhancing energy infrastructure such as the power grid, and increasing energy conservation. All of these ideas were couched as ways to reduce energy costs and create good-paying jobs while also protecting the environment.

But the president ignored the opportunities provided by green energy in his wildly exaggerated and inaccurate description of the economic threat posed by U.S. participation in the Paris accord. He claimed the accord would prevent the United States from building new coal-fired power plants while allowing China and India to build hundreds.

The fact is, however, that the United States and every other one of the 195 countries that signed on to the accord set its own, voluntary and non-binding standards. In fact, that’s one of the gripes some environmentalists had about the agreement — it wasn’t stringent enough and lacked any means of enforcement besides peer pressure.

Considering we’re talking about the future of the planet, however, the Paris accord is infinitely better than nothing. Just having the world at the table with a common goal of slowing the rise in the Earth’s temperature was an historic first step. Trump, with his “America first” jingoism, has single-handedly set up the United States as a barrier to progress.

Trump made some vague remarks about trying to renegotiate the terms of the Paris accord. “And if we can, that’s great. And if we can’t, that’s fine,” he said. In other words, he doesn’t give a hang and nothing is going to happen.

Trump could have redefined the United States’ voluntary obligation any time he wanted and worked within the accord to pressure other countries to step up their participation. Instead, he’s giving other countries an excuse to also walk away. Or, if the accord somehow holds together, it will be under China’s leadership. Trump has handed America’s toughest rival the inside track on the economic benefits of development and export of green energy technology.

Now, the renewable energy industry in Iowa and around the country will continue to march forward. But Trump’s refusal to acknowledge the economic potential of green energy makes that increasingly an uphill slog. His eagerness to return to full-on, carbon-belching fossil fuels by rolling back environmental regulations may make it harder over time for wind and solar to compete. But hey, at least the coal miners will have jobs.

Luckily, Iowa has a few advantages that other states don’t. If China is to dominate the global market for green energy, Iowa still may gain through its close relationship with the country. The ambassadorship of former Gov. Terry Branstad only enhances the opportunities.

The process for withdrawing from the Paris accord takes time, which gives Iowa another advantage. The Iowa caucuses allow voters here to make sure climate change is a significant part of the debate for the 2020 presidential election.

If all else fails, at least Iowa is in the center of the country. We won’t be underwater when the oceans rise, but it should be a shorter trip to the beach.